I am a physician, currently practicing as an Anesthesiologist. My other passions are finance and investments. As of 2013, I have passed all three levels of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exams, all in my first attempts. I received my Masters of Business Administration degree in 2008. I received my certification as a securities specialist from the Philippine Stock Exchange in 2009.

Anyone who predicted the death of printed books years back in lieu of e-books are probably scratching their heads in disbelief. Ebooks and their various formats (Kindle, iBook, etc) have not killed traditional print. In fact, print has made a resurgence in recent years.

Last week, the 36th Manila International Book Fair (Facebook page here) was held at the SMX Convention Center in the Mall of Asia (MOA) complex in Pasay City, Philippines.

For over a week now, I have been exclusively using Uber to get to work. I have a car – but traffic congestion, bad weather, parking costs and space unavailability, corrupt traffic policemen, road rage drivers, accident prone roads – have discouraged me from driving. Since I’m a doctor who take frequent car trips daily, Uber makes a lot of money from me.

This had me thinking – How can I turn the tables and make money from Uber or Grab Car?

Last year, I decided to write a book that explains the basics of investments in a simple manner. I initially meant to just give out the books as Christmas gifts to my co-doctors and friends. Due to the good response of those who received the book, I decided to sell the book.

My book is available in Amazon here and via Central Books bookstores in the Philippines.

Central Books also invited me to appear in the 36th Manila International Book Fair. A chance to hawk my book in person!

See you on Sunday, September 20 at the 36th Manila International Book Fair at the SMX Convention Center. Image from Manila International Book Fair Official Facebook Page

For authors, there’s always the fear that even if you show up at the book fair, no one buys your book, which can be embarrassing and ego crushing….

Despite optimism for development, the Philippines continues to lag other major Southeast Asian countries in terms of infrastructure, per capita income, and other economic indicators. Could it be due to corruption? Security issues? Government instability? Overpopulation? The answer is probably yes to all; but other countries fare much worse with the above issues. Thailand and Malaysia, in recent years, have higher profile corruption scandals. Security perception had always been worse for most other countries. Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar suffered from years of war and turmoil. Indonesia has more than double the Philippines’ population.

Guess which has the highest tax rates? Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries. Image from sminvestments.com

Could it be due to taxes? The Philippines has the highest income tax rate in Southeast Asia. Is the country lagging behind because the citizens are being taxed too much?

The highest tax bracket in the Philippines is 32% for taxable income PHP 500,000 and above. If you live in another ASEAN country, how much will your marginal tax rate be if your taxable income (annual) is PHP 500,000?*

AlDub (stands for the love team of Alden Richards and Yaya Dub) is breaking all sorts of social media records recently. Ratings for Eat Bulaga, the show that features the two, are at their highest in years.

It is expected that many companies will cash in on the popularity of the AlDub phenomenon. To get the business of the millions of AlDub fans, these companies (especially the larger ones), should compensate Eat Bulaga, Alden and Maine Mendoza (who plays Yaya) for riding on the trend. This is especially true if the likeness of “AlDub” is used.

Social media is in everything this days, even in finance and investments. Unfortunately, finance related stuff doesn’t really trend in social media; at least here in the Philippines. The hashtag #ParaSaEkonomiya (For the Economy) is often used these days, but most of the posts don’t really relate to the economy. Sadly that hashatag has become a punchline.

Beginning with this post, Finance MD will regularly feature social media posts related to Philippine finance and investments. #ParaSaEkonomiya indeed.